Ravel's goal was to evoke a Spanish princess from the Renaissance - and he does it superbly.

The Pavane's haunting subtlety and expressive melodies have made it hugely popular.

Ravel scribbled the piece for a commission in 1899, when he was 24. Three years later his good friend, the Spanish pianist Ricardo Vines, premiered it. It was a smash hit in Paris, and made Ravel a famous composer.

Ravel dedicated the little piece to the Princesse de Polignac, who held regular avant-garde musical events in her stately Paris mansion.

The title of the piece doesn't refer to any specific person or event in history.

Ravel, so he claimed, just really liked the alliteration the sounds of the words infante (princess) and defunte (dead) made.

A pavane is a courtly dance from the Renaissance period. Here´s the Pavane played by Orchestra :